New revelations of child molestation by Catholic priests, and the Pope's indifference, have his critics and defenders locked in a holy war of words. Some anticipate his downfall. Others see a secularist smear campaign. Here's your guide to the controversy.

Yesterday, the Times ran an article that says as archbishop of Munich, the Pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, "expended more energy pursuing theological dissidents than sexual predators," and that he wasn't much concerned with the day-to-day managerial side of being archbishop. Like the annoying amount of paperwork that probably goes along with prosecuting a kiddie-toucher? Instead, he focused on more important things, like disciplining a priest for leading a mass at a peace rally in 1981. That priest eventually left the Church, disillusioned.

The Times' religion reporter, Laurie Goodstein, has really pissed off the Vatican. She blew open the story of Reverend Lawrence Murphy, the kiddie-touching Milwaukee priest with a thing for deaf children. Goodstein writes:

Top Vatican officials - including the future Pope Benedict XVI - did not defrock a priest who molested as many as 200 deaf boys, even though several American bishops repeatedly warned them that failure to act on the matter could embarrass the church, according to church files newly unearthed as part of a lawsuit.

The internal correspondence from bishops in Wisconsin directly to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, shows that while church officials tussled over whether the priest should be dismissed, their highest priority was protecting the church from scandal.

The documents emerge as Pope Benedict is facing other accusations that he and direct subordinates often did not alert civilian authorities or discipline priests involved in sexual abuse when he served as an archbishop in Germany and as the Vatican's chief doctrinal enforcer."

Then there's Rev. Peter Hullerman. He molested boys at his parish in Germany, was sent to therapy for pedophilia, and days later returned to work with children. He was convicted of molesting boys at another parish that Benedict helped transfer him to. But supporters of the Pope are trying to lay the blame on his right hand man, Rev. Gerhard Gruber.

There's some really bizarre stuff out there, too, like this YouTube video. In a "parody" of the 2004 movie Downfall, Adolf Hitler learns of Benedict's popularity among "the youth" and loses his mind. One of Hitler's aides in the bunker tells him: "But at least we got the secular media against [Benedict]." Are they equating critics of the Pope with Nazis? No, of course not. It's a parody! Ha! Kind of like posting the picture below of Benedict, then Herr Joseph Ratzinger, as a totally unenthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth. Funny stuff!

So there's your 2010 papal scandal as of today. The chorus of prominent Catholics demanding his resignation is growing, but if the Pope's latest comments are any indicator, old Ratzinger is not going down without a fight.